My wife and I were two of 30 attendees at a dinner last night featuring several of the Piedmont wines of Angelo Gaja. The setting was a Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse in downtown Baltimore, a block away from the harbor spot where the post positions for Saturday’s Preakness had been drawn an hour earlier. Tickets cost $150, including tax and tip, with the featured wines on offer at “discount” prices—e.g., $300 for the Barbaresco crus “Costa Russi” and “Sori Tildin,” as opposed to the $400 local shelf price. That’s, um, $300 per 750-ml bottle. Giddy-up, Xchanger!
Gaja schmoozed graciously and personably on this first trip to Bawlmer. His comments introducing the wines ranged from geography and oenology 101 (“We are in the northwest of Italy…. The grape is Nebbiolo.”) to some more obscure observations that I found kind of interesting (“Our Piedmontese dialect has much influence from the French”). He spoke passionately about the distinction between “commercial wines . . . whose manipulation makes them taste almost the same” and “original wines . . . with heart, soul, spirit, and taste that you can recognize comes from a specific origin. We want to keep making these wines.” He veered into uh-oh territory (“global warming—ah, what can we do?—it’s bad for humans, but it’s good for Nebbiolo”), but in fairness, I think that’s because he was trying to string out his remarks until the first course arrived.
Wines were served in Riedel restaurant glassware, with Burgundy stems for the Nebbiolo (nice touch). I did the best note-taking I could, under the circumstances: we were seated with sociable strangers, and my wife despises pen and paper at the dinner table. She’s right, of course, but to quote a friend of hers who’s also married to a geek, “Men are shameless when it comes to wine.”
Aperitif:
Gaja Alteni di Brassica 2004 (Langhe DOC)
100% Sauvignon Blanc, handed to us without identification as we walked into the dining room. From the floral and citric nose, I might have guessed high-end Pinot Grigio if that grape were included in Gaja’s repertoire. Soft, similar flavors and rich texture. Pleasant, well-made, but a bit too varietally restrained for my taste. 14% alcohol. Price not given.
With a crab cake on sizzling lemon butter with red pepper confetti:
Gaja Alteni di Brassica 2005 (Langhe DOC)
Clear, medium straw. Scented like its older sibling, with the addition of welcome grassy notes. Clean, elegant lime and more crispness on the palate, but still rich for an SB, with some not-too-obtrusive butteriness. Sees six months in barrique and and undergoes malo. Perhaps like Piedmont dialect, this show more influence from the French (especially Bordeaux blanc) than from the Sauvignons of northeastern Italy. 13% alcohol, I think (handout is unclear). $80.
With veal ossobuco ravioli topped with “BBQ butter,” veal glace, romano, and parsley:
Gaja Barbaresco 2001 (DOCG)
Clear, light-medium ruby. Aroma leaps out of a glass poured across the table. At first, it’s earthy and leafy, with raspberries and an iodine edge. Air brings out crushed berries with whiffs of tobacco and iron. Light- to medium-bodied, with pretty red fruit, some smoke, and a touch of cherry cough drop. Friendly tannins and a medium-long finish. Nebbiolo blended from 14 vineyards. 13.5% alcohol. $200.
Two wines with a thick, perfectly grilled lamb chop:
Gaja “Costa Russi” 2001 (Langhe DOC)
95% Nebbiolo, 5% Barbera from a vineyard in Barbaresco. Medium, mostly clear ruby. Fresh rose perfume, dark cherries, and red licorise, with hints of menthol and black pepper. Medium-bodied, with ripe raspberries, strawberries, and blackberries switching in and out of focus. Soft tannins with a sweet-tart finish. Charmer of the night. 13.5% alcohol. $400.
Gaja “Sori Tildin” 2001 (Langhe DOC)
Listed as “Tilden” on the restaurant’s menu card, prompting Gaja to snip at a distributor rep, “Everyone misspells ‘Tildin,’ even Robert Parker from the beginning.” It was his grandmother’s nickname, Gaja adds, so he’s a bit protective.
95% Nebbiolo, 5% Barbera from a vineyard in Barbaresco. Darker in every way than the Costa Russi. Medium-dark, shadowy reddish-purple, with a nose of black licorise, dark plum, and turned earth. A barnyard note emerges over time. Medium- to full-bodied, with a rich mouthfeel and burly handshake of tannin that squeezed tighter as the night went on. I spent more time with this glass than the others, and after an hour or so, it was pretty clearly closing down. This is the wine I might be most likely to buy if I had the simoleons and “no shame when it comes to wine.” (Giddy-up, Xchanger!) 13.5% alcohol. $400.
Two wines with a big ol’ ribeye, garlic mashers, and mushrooms:
Gaja “Sperrs” 2001 (Langhe DOC)
94% Nebbiolo, 6% Barbera from a vineyard in Barolo. Medium-dark reddish purple. Nice roses and graphite on the nose, but this is altogether denser, chunkier, and tar-ier than the Barbaresco-based reds. Full-bodied, round, and juicy, with rich black cherry flavor, some melted licorise, and a hint of chocolate with air time. Tannic, but no monster, with a finish that’s a bit short. Too young, perhaps, and for now I find the finesse of the Barbaresco crus a lot more attractive. Still, it’s a wine I’d be happy to spend an evening with, providing I hit the exacta. 14% alcohol. $200.
Gaja “Darmagi” 2001 (Langhe DOC)
95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc from a vineyard in Barbaresco. (“Darmagi” is Piedmontese for “what a pity,” said to be Gaja’s father’s reaction when Angelo ripped out old Nebbiolo vines from this plot in order to plant Cab.) Opaque, inky purple, with a nose of cassis, dust, cedar, and smoky currant. Full-bodied, with flavors of blackberry, graphite, and juicy red fruit. Good grip, but it comes across a little green on the medium-long finish. The most popular (familiar?) wine of the night among some of the steakhouse habitués at my table. Nice enough on its own terms, I’d say, but kinda clunky in comparison to the preceding wines, like a Clydesdale in a stable full of Arabians. 14.5% alcohol. $200.